World of Jazz

Filed in archive Events on August 29, 2007

I am not a jazz aficionado. I do, however, enjoy the occasional piece of ear candy, especially when it is live.

Jazz has a rather large international following. Most "world cities" have a plethora of jazz clubs. Seoul is no exception. Next month the city will host the Jarasum International Jazz Festival. Local acts will be complimented by famous acts like George Duke and Kurt Elling.

Aside from jazz, the festival will offer pop, rock, and hip-hop acts a chance to shine. The reason for this:

"It is a recent international trend that Jazz festivals open wider for musicians of different genres for financial reasons," explained the director. "I will say 51 percent of our program is related to jazz music."

So for 51% jazz, give Seoul's Jarasum Festival a try. Hey, if pop culture obsessed Korea can give jazz its time in the spotlight, anything is possible.